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Big fish: Willis goes 7-0

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Florida Marlins' Dontrelle Willsi blows a bubble as he returns to the dugout after retiring the Houston Astros in the third inning Wednesday, May 11, 2005 in Miami. The Marlins won 2-1.
AP Photo/Alan Diaz

Florida Marlins' Dontrelle Willsi blows a bubble as he returns to the dugout after retiring the Houston Astros in the third inning Wednesday, May 11, 2005 in Miami. The Marlins won 2-1.

AP Photo/Alan Diaz

MIAMI  Dontrelle Willis improved to a major league-best 7-0 by allowing one run and six hits in eight innings, and Damion Easley's two-run homer sent Florida to a 2-1 victory over Houston on Wednesday night.

Roy Oswalt (4-4) yielded two runs and five hits in 7 2-3 innings for the Astros, who fell to 2-16 on the road. Morgan Ensberg had two hits and the lone RBI for Houston.

Willis, who struck out five and walked two, retired 18 of 19 Astros during one stretch before allowing a double by Ensberg on an 0-2 pitch in the eighth. The next batter, Lance Berkman, walked. But Willis escaped by striking out Mike Lamb  a left-handed batter  on three pitches to close the inning.

Padres 7, Reds 2

CINCINNATI  Tim Stauffer got a win in his major league debut and San Diego manager Bruce Bochy got his 800th.

Ryan Klesko hit a three-run homer for the Padres, who won for the eighth time in 10 games. Only Bobby Cox, Joe Torre and Tony La Russa have more wins with their current clubs than Bochy.

Dave Roberts had four hits and Mark Loretta got five to lead San Diego's 16-hit outburst. Klesko's sixth homer in his last nine games put San Diego ahead to stay in the fourth.

Brewers 5, Phillies 2

MILWAUKEE  Junior Spivey's three-run double off Ryan Madson in the eighth inning made the Brewers 9-3 on their homestand, the first time they won nine times during a homestand since going 9-1 from Sept. 18-27, 1992.

Spivey sent a two-out, full-count fastball just over the glove of left fielder Pat Burrell to break a 2-2 tie and make a loser of Cory Lidle (2-3), who struck out a career-high 11 and retired 16 straight at one point.

Cubs 4, Mets 3, 10 innings

CHICAGO  Derrek Lee homered leading off the 10th to give the Cubs the win on a raw day at Wrigley Field.

Mark Prior allowed just two hits in seven strong innings for Chicago, but the Mets tied it at 3 on pinch-hitter Eric Valent's two-out single in the ninth off new closer Ryan Dempster (2-3). He blew his first save chance of the season, then got the victory.

Lee's 10th homer came on a 3-2 pitch from Heath Bell (0-1) and ended an 11-pitch at-bat. The Cubs, who won for only the third time in 11 games, took two of three from New York.

Rockies 6, Braves 5

DENVER  Todd Greene hit a game-winning, bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth after Atlanta had scored three runs in the top half of the inning.

Colorado got an impressive start from Byung-Hyun Kim and led 4-2 heading into the ninth, only to see Chin-hui Tsao (1-0) blow the save. The rookie closer was successful in his first four save opportunities.

Helton finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and Greene had three RBIs for Colorado, which has won three of four since an eight-game losing streak.

Pirates 7, Giants 2

SAN FRANCISCO  Ty Wigginton hit a tiebreaking two-run homer, Daryle Ward added a two-run shot, and Ray Sadler also connected for his first major league hit to lead the Pirates.

Josh Fogg (3-2) pitched seven strong innings in a gutsy effort on three days' rest for Pittsburgh, which began the day with a major league-best 18 home runs in May.

Diamondbacks 3, Nationals 2

PHOENIX  Chad Tracy hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning for Arizona.

Javier Vazquez pitched seven solid innings for the Diamondbacks, who earned their second consecutive win over the Washington franchise which had won 10 straight against Arizona over the last two years.

With the score tied at 2, Troy Glaus and Shawn Green singled off Jon Rauch (1-3) with one out in the eighth. Tracy followed with a sharp liner to right, scoring Glaus and giving Arizona a 3-2 lead.

Cardinals 9, Dodgers 3

ST. LOUIS  Larry Walker had three of St. Louis' season-high 19 hits and drove in three runs, backing a strong seven-inning effort by Jeff Suppan in the Cardinals' victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

David Eckstein had four hits and an RBI to extend his hitting streak to 12 games for St. Louis, which has won seven of eight at home against the Dodgers counting the playoffs. Of the Cardinals' 19 hits, only three were for extra bases.

Twelve of the hits came off Brad Penny (2-1), who lasted 4 2-3 innings and allowed six runs in his fourth start following a biceps injury last August.

American League

TORONTO  The Kansas City Royals were no better with a new manager.

Alex Rios hit a go-ahead double, and the Toronto Blue Jays scored five times in the eighth inning to rally past Kansas City 12-9 on Wednesday.

Less than 24 hours after manager Tony Pena resigned, the Royals dropped to a major league-worst 8-26. Kansas City had a season-high 16 hits in its first game under interim skipper Bob Schaefer, but it wasn't enough.

Martinez golfed a three-run shot off Matt Thornton (0-3) to get the Yankees even at 9 in the fourth inning. New York trailed 5-0 after the top of the first, but tied it in the bottom half.

Tony Womack tied a career high and the Yankees' record with four stolen bases, and scored three times. Hideki Matsui and Sheffield each had three RBIs.

Red Sox 6, Athletics 5

BOSTON  Jason Varitek hit a two-run shot in the ninth inning, and Boston beat Oakland closer Octavio Dotel with a ninth-inning homer for the second straight day.

The Athletics took the lead on Eric Byrnes' two-run homer off Keith Foulke in the top of the ninth.

Dotel (1-3) gave up Kevin Millar's two-run drive that gave the Red Sox a 3-2 win Tuesday night. Both came with one out after Dotel issued a walk.

Foulke (2-3) got the win despite allowing four runs in the ninth. Matt Clement's seven strong innings and Manny Ramirez's two-run homer helped Boston build a 4-1 lead. Johnny Damon doubled to extend his hitting streak to 17 games, the longest current run in the majors.

Orioles 7, Twins 4

BALTIMORE  B.J. Surhoff singled home the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning, and Baltimore defeated Minnesota.

Sidney Ponson (5-1) gave up two earned runs in eight innings to earn his fourth straight win and improve to 9-2 lifetime against the Twins. The right-hander did not allow a hit after the third and faced the minimum 15 batters over his final five innings.

Twins starter Johan Santana allowed four runs and nine hits in six innings, striking out eight. The 2004 AL Cy Young Award winner left with the score tied.

Miguel Tejada led off the eighth with a double off Matt Guerrier (0-1).

White Sox 5, Devil Rays 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.  Orlando Hernandez took a two-hitter into the seventh inning, helping Chicago stop a two-game skid with a victory over Tampa Bay.

Paul Konerko had a two-run double, and Jermaine Dye and Aaron Rowand also drove in runs in support of Hernandez (5-1), who allowed two runs and three hits in 6 1-3 innings.

Dustin Hermanson got five outs for his sixth save, extending his season-long streak of not allowing a run to 16 1-3 innings over 14 relief appearances.

Indians 9, Angels 3

ANAHEIM, Calif.  Ben Broussard homered and had three hits in his first game in the cleanup spot this season, helping Cleveland beat Los Angeles.

Jhonny Peralta and Casey Blake tacked on solo homers in the eighth inning for the Indians, who finished 5-4 on their road trip by taking two of three from the defending AL West champions. Coco Crisp went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI single.

Cliff Lee (4-1) shrugged off Jose Molina's two-run homer in the second and won for the third time in four starts.

Tigers 6, Rangers 5

ARLINGTON, Texas  Carlos Pena's single off the glove of first baseman Mark Teixeira broke an eighth-inning tie and sent Detroit to a victory over Texas.

The Tigers rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the seventh by scoring two runs on one wild pitch thanks to a throwing error on catcher Sandy Alomar Jr.